Apparatus for teaching gun practice.



No. 732,596. EATENTED JUNE 3C, 190s. E

A C. A. vsPoEEoNC. APPARATUS ECE TEACHING CUN PRACTICE.

APPLICATION-FILED JULY 29.. 1902.

BY JQ@ ATTORNEY /f FIGES.

N0 MODEL.

FIG-5.

l UNITED STATES Patented June 30, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.,

CARL ANTON SPORRONG, OF STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN'.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 732,596, dated June 30,1903. Appnetnmned July 29,1902. seriainailmzv. (Numan.)

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, CARL ANTON SPoERoNG, a subject of theKing of Swedenand Norway, and a resident of Stockholm, Sweden, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Teaching Gun Practice, ofwhich the following is a speciication.

Myv invention consists of further improvements in apparatus for teachinggun practice of the character described in my Patent No. 707,729, datedAugust 26, 1902. h

The object of my invention lis-to provide improved means whereby thepractical opera-l tions of target-shooting may, so far as the drillexercise is concerned, be carried on without the waste of ammunition and,the dan-- gers 'incident thereto and also without the long rangenecessary to the common practice.

The invention comprises, essentially, a universally-jointed gun-support,which gun may be a dummy or false gun and is subject while on saidsupport to the manipulations of the practitioner, said support allowingpractically the same deviations of the gun when being sighted asin thecommon practice, With means for transmitting the deviations to a pointerso connected to the gun-support as to keep in such alinementfrelativelyto the line of the gun-sight as to point to the same object, and aclamping device which is automatically actuated simultaneously with andis set in operation by the pulling of the trigger and instantly locksall the parts fast in the positions they occupy against movements in anydirection at the instant the trigger is pulled, so that the pointershowswith rela 'tion to a iixed center representing the bullseye of thetarget the deviations due to the practice of the unskilled operator asthey are shown on the ordinary target, as hereinafter described,reference bein g made to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure lisa vertical section ofthe apparatus without the gun, the section beingtaken in a plane at right angles to the vertical plane of the gun. Fig.2 is a vertical section of the apparatus in the plane of the gun andside view of the gun mounted thereon with a part` of the gun broken out.Fig. 3 is mainly a horizontal section of the apparatus in the plane ofthe universal axes of vibration of the gun-support. Fig.` 4 is ahorizontal section showing a modification of the clamp. Fig. 5 is adetail showing the clamp setting and tripping lever. Fig. 6 is a detailshowing the trigger fixed 011 the gun-support, as it may be When a dummygun is used.V

A represents the gun, and a represents a support of trough-likeconstruction in which the gun may be placed, so as to begripped togetherwith the gun by the left hand, as the ordinary gun is gripped whenplaced against the shoulder for use, While the right hand grips the partZ only of the stock ofthe gun. The gun is temporarily secured in thesupport a, by a couple of tap-screws d2, for which suitable holes haveto be tapped in the un`- der side of the gun. The support a is at itsrear end mounted on the topk of a vertical pivot-standard b, whichatabout the middle of its length has a support in a clamp c, throughwhich it is iitted so as to rotate, said clamp being carried bytrunnion-pivotsd in housings e, set upright on abase-plate r, so thatthe support may shiftin a vertical plane for adjustment as to elevationof the trajectory, While rotation of standard horizontally accommodatesthe lateral range. The clamp c carries a step-bearing f for the pivot gof the lower end ofthe standard b, said bearing being suspended asuitable distance beloW by hangers 72. The gun is thus mounted so as towork universally in the hands of the operator practically the same as agun wholly supported in the hands, and with the gun so mounted a pointert', located below and preferably to the left hand of the guny anduniversally pivot-jointed atj, is coupled to the standard b, so that thepointer automatically follows the line'of the gun-sightin all thedeviations it may make when manipulated by the operator, and when thegun is accuratelyv i pointed with relation to the object aimed at thesaid pointer registers with a bulls-eyel viation there may be of thepointer relatively to this mark represents the measure of the inaccuracyof the operator. The connection IOO of the pointer-stad 't' with thestandard bis j preferably by means of a metallic strip or wire springl2, having several coils 13 and a I er .l

rigid arm 14 interposed between said spring and the stai for an elasticconnection; but this may be modified at will. The universalfulcrum-joint pivot of the pointer-staff i may be constructed in anyapproved way. It is to be understood that the pointer is not necessarilylocated below nor to one side of the vertical plane of the gun. Inregard to these particulars the arrangements specified are only such aspreferred. To iixedly set the pointer exactlyin the position occupied atthe instant of pulling the trigger and retain it a short time forobservation, the trigger n is made to release an automatic clamp, whichat once rigidly arrests all movements of the gunsupporting apparatus,and thus rigidly sets the pointer ih whatever relation it may be to thebulls-eye mark. The clamp, which is of a duplex character, may beconstructed in various ways, and I do not limit myself to any particularconstruction. The construction which I represent herein as one exampleof such devices suitable for carrying out my invention consists of thehousings e, between which two clamp-jaws care pivoted, said housingsbeing made slightly elastic in their supporting parts e', and the flangep of the internally-screw-threaded sleeve q, placed outside of one ofthe housings and coupled together v Vby bolts s, extending through slotst of the clamp-jaws c, allowing said clamp-jaws limited rotatorymovement on their axes without hindrance by said bolts, said housingsbeing also free for slight movement along the bolts, or at least the onebetween the iiange p and the block c must be so. In the sleeve q is aclamp-operating screw u, to one end of which, projecting from the outerend of the sleeve, a hand-lever 'v is attached, while the inner end ofsaid screw has when screwed up contact with the housing e, against whichthe flange p of the sleeve q bears. The lever c carries aratchet-segment w on the extremity of its short arm, which engages witha pawl :r when the lever is turned by hand to the left or in thedirection to retract the screw and holds it for maintaining the relaxedcondition of the clamp. On the sleeve q between flange p and a collar yis a coiled spring a', one end of which is secured to flange p at 2 andthe other end engages the short arm ot' lever QJ at 3, said spring beingso adjusted that under tension it thrusts the lever so as to tighten theclamp when ratchet w is released from the retaining pawl-bit x. Thispawl-bit is carried on a lever 4, pivoted at 5 and having a spring 6normally keeping the said bit in engagement with the ratchet w. Thelever 4 reaches into a recess 7 in the standard just above thestep-bearing of said standard, so that a rod 8, set upright in thehollow axis of the standard, may rest at its lower end on or slightlyabove the lever 4 near its free end. This rod extends upward to the topof the standard b, or thereabout, where the arm 9 of the trigger 'nrests on it above a perforation l0 made through the trigger-guard platefor the rod, so that when the trigger is pulled lever 4 is depressed,which releases pa'wl-bit w from the ratchet fw, allowing spring z to actand tighten the clamp at the instant the trigger is pulled, and thuslixedly set the pointer in the relation to the bulls-eye 7c thatthegunsight bears to the object aimed at, which may be any object at asuitable distance or a common target, if desired. The jaws c clamp thestandard b and x the pointer relatively to horizontal range, and thehousings clamp the jaws c and tix the pointer relatively to verticalrange. The lever 4 carries a plate 21, the breadth of which iscoextensive with the lateral range of the end of the rod 8 due to theoscillations of the clamp c on its trunnions, and thus insuresuninterrupted connection of the two notwithstanding the oscillations.The spring 6 and lever 4 return the rod S to bearing contact with thetrigger-arm 9. The lever fu is pulled forward again and is automaticallyagain engaged by the pawl-bit a: for releasing the clamp preparatory tothe next operation.

The base-plate r is detachably and adjustably clamped to an arm 14,which is similarly clamped to a post 15, that may have any suitablesupport.

A protective inclosing case 16 is applied to the apparatus below thesupport ct, and a funnel-shaped protector 17 for the pointer z' issuitably attached to a post 11 of said base and carries at its largerend the before-mentioned transparent support m, through which thevpointer t', indicating the results of the efforts ofthe practitioners,is seen, the range of said funnel being such that the operator has themark 7c and the pointer in his visual range after firing the gun, thusenabling him to observe the result of his eorts without removing fromthe position he occupies when manipulating the gun.

As one modication of the clamp, a solid block c is represented in lieuof the jaws c in Fig. 4 with a thrust-pin c2 fitted in suitableperforations of the housings e and the side of said block intermediateof support a and the screw fu, to thrust against the side of support adirectly for clamping said support against rotation. Thus the clamp isnot limited to suchjaws c. When the jaws c are used for clamping thesupport ct against rotation, the hangers h, by which the step-bearingfissuspended from said jaws, are divided in the upper part, as shown at h',Figs. 2 and 3, to allow them to spring suiiiciently for clamping saidsupport.

In Fig. 6 the support a3 is more particularly adapted for a dummy gun,and the trigger n is mounted on said support, as it may be, ifpreferred.

What I claim as my invention is 1. The combination of theuniversallymovable gun-support adapted for the application of a gun inconnection with it as in sighting the gun and shooting, a gun mountedthereon, a pointer having a universally- IOO IIO

-jointed .support and connected with the gunvadapted for the applicationof a gun for use in` connection with it as in sighting the gun and'shooting, a gun mounted thereon, the

' universally-jointed mounting of said support,

a pointei` having a universally-jointed snpport, and connected with thegun-support so as to maintain parallelism with the deviating line of thegun-sight, a bnlls-eye mark located in the line which the pointeroccupies when the gun is truly sighted with relation to the object aimedat, the range of said pointer and mark being such that .the operator hasthem in his visual range when in the position for operating the gun, anautomatic clamp to lock the parts-in the positions 0ccupied when thetrigger is pulled, setting devices for holding the clamp in readinessfor 3o action, and tripping mechanism for said holding devices actuatedby the vgun-trigger.

Signed at Stockholm this 11th day of July,

.CARL ANTON SPORRONG.

Witnesses:

ADoLn` KIHLSTROM,

' CARL JOHANN AKERLUND.

